1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for custom fitting athletic shoes to wearers by measuring the feet, correlating the foot measurements to settings on an adjustable last, fitting an appropriately sized shoe with heat malleable activation zones on the adjustable last and heat-treating the shoe while adjusting the last to customize the fit of the shoe to the wearer.
2. Background of the Invention
The athletic shoe industry continues to research ways to improve the fit of athletic shoes, and to customize the fit to an individual wearer. The oldest way of custom fitting shoes to an individual wearer is to make the shoes based on a customized last for the particular individual's feet. This is tantamount to custom tailored or bespoke clothing, and involves an expensive and time consuming process. Numerous attempts have been made to try to bring a custom fit to the mass produced market for footwear.
One of the obstacles to customizing the fit of mass produced shoes in the past has been the fact that the component which has the primary influence on fit, the shape of the last on which the footwear is formed, has remained unchanged. In general a last or form is made by taking the following foot measurements into account: the overall length of the foot, the width of the foot, the height of the first digit, the contour of the instep, and at least six girth measurements. The general practice is to shape a last for mass production by utilizing foot measurements from a broad spectrum of the population to determine the characteristics of a statistically average foot. This will theoretically achieve a proper fit for a majority of the population. Footwear sizing is generally based on the overall length of a wearer's foot with accommodation made for the width or girth of the foot. Most footwear manufacturers only provide consumers with footwear in limited length-width combinations.
Prohibitive manufacturing and retail inventory challenges prevent mass manufacturers and marketers from offering footwear sizes in a full spectrum of length-width combinations. Since each length-width combination for an article of footwear generally requires a unique last that is correctly proportioned for that particular length-width combination, economics generally forces manufacturers and retailers to offer a limited spectrum of length-width combinations, based again, on a statistically average foot. The attempt is to cover as large a cross section of the population as possible. Research has demonstrated that this approach, while cost effective, has drawbacks to the consumer. Traditionally manufacturers use the same tooling for different widths, only the upper is differently sized in width.
Many individuals do not have feet with statistically average proportions so the usual length-width combinations would not provide a proper fit. Some people have feet of left and right feet of different widths, such as the dominant foot being slightly larger. Any of these factors necessitate fit adjustment to enable the wearer to receive the full benefit of an athletic shoe in particular.
One way of providing a custom fit is described in commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 10/099,685 filed on Mar. 14, 2002, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The '685 application describes a method by which a wearer can purchase footwear through a remote communication channel by specifying the last that is used to construct the footwear. The wearer can identify a last based on previous experience with footwear that was constructed using that last. The last may be specified by a model number and size, or by employing measurements of the wearer's foot to determine the last which is used to construct the footwear.
Shoes have been made with a variety of adjustment mechanisms such as fastening systems, differing materials and the like, but mass produced shoes generally are still made with predetermined lasts or forms. Little has been done to customize the fit of mass produced shoes by adjusting the lasts themselves. Since the shoe is completed during manufacturing, even if any adjustments were made in the past, they would have to be performed during manufacture, thus delaying greatly the receipt of customized shoes by the wearer.
Prior attempts to customize the fit of athletic shoes have resulted in many solutions which all require the wearer to wait for the customized shoes. There exists a need for a retailer to provide a customized fit after manufacture of the shoe, preferably at the point of sale.